CalMatters newest staff members work across operations, development, audio and youth journalism

We’re thrilled to welcome CalMatters’ newest employees, who help advance our work internally and across the state.

This advancement is, as always, made possible by support from our institutional donors and individual members.

Halona Leung joins the team as director of operations, overseeing the business and people operations at CalMatters.

Halona has experience in research grant administration, business operations, budget management, and communications from her prior work at an academic research center. She brings a commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the workplace and in interactions with our greater community. Halona has a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of California, Davis.

Kevin Marsden joins us as a full-stack web developer, doing work for both the reader-focused front of our website and on the staff-focused back of our website.

Prior to joining CalMatters, Kevin  worked as the IT manager and web developer for the California Lawyers Association. He has also worked as a support engineer at Automattic. Before jumping into the world of technology, Kevin  spent more than ten years working in government finance. He has a degree in economics from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Michael Lozano joins CalMatters to lead our Youth Journalism Initiative, assessing the state of California’s journalism education and industry pipeline.

Michael previously covered election administration for CalMatters and has written for New America Media, the Long Beach Post, ImpreMedia and others, covering diversity, immigration, voting, and health. In Long Beach, he led VoiceWaves, a news training program mentoring diverse youth to share their stories online and at major sites like NPR and KCET. Michael earned his bachelor’s degree in Honors Sociology and minored in Journalism at Cal State Long Beach. Raised in South Gate, he is based in Downey.

Mary Franklin Harvin, as previously announced, joins CalMatters as Collaborative News Editor, Audio. This position is an integral part of CapRadio and CalMatters’ content partnership goal to significantly increase the number of Californians who have access to vital journalism covering the state.

Most recently Mary Franklin worked as a producer for KQED’s The California Report. She brings extensive experience working as an audio and podcast producer. Her background includes working as a producer on PRX’s Radiotopia podcast The Kitchen Sisters, a national health policy podcast Tradeoffs and KQED’s The California Report.